Zooplankton biomass variation in relation to climatic conditions in the Barents Sea

Over the last two decades, there have been large changes in the zooplankton biomass in the Barents Sea. These biomass variations are mainly attributed to predation pressure and environmental factors (e.g. advective transport). When stock size of capelin (Mallotus villosus), a major planktivorous fis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar biology 2003-04, Vol.26 (4), p.233-241
Main Authors: DALPADADO, Padmini, INGVALDSEN, Randi, HASSEL, Arne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomass
Climate
Climatic conditions
Environmental factors
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
High temperature
Mallotus villosus
Marine
Marine biology
Marine ecology
Plankton
Sea water ecosystems
Synecology
Themisto libellula
Zooplankton
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Summary:Over the last two decades, there have been large changes in the zooplankton biomass in the Barents Sea. These biomass variations are mainly attributed to predation pressure and environmental factors (e.g. advective transport). When stock size of capelin (Mallotus villosus), a major planktivorous fish in the Barents Sea ecosystem, was quite low as in 1986 and 1994, the zooplankton biomass showed marked increase. However, the increase in the zooplankton biomass occurred in different water masses during 1986 and 1994. In 1986, a climatically cold year, the plankton biomass was highest in the Arctic waters of the northeastern Barents Sea. This is probably due to the increase in larger Arctic amphipod species, such asThemisto libellula. In 1994, a climatically warm year, the zooplankton biomass was high in the Atlantic waters of the southwestern Barents Sea. The large increase in zooplankton biomass in the Atlantic waters in 1994 was presumably due to the higher inflow of advected organisms, e.g. Calanus spp., as well as high temperatures, which may lead to high growth rates of zooplankton. Throughout the studied region, the plankton biomass in the "cold year" of 1986 was generally much lower than in the "warm year" of 1994.
ISSN:0722-4060
1432-2056
DOI:10.1007/s00300-002-0470-z